Palace of Domitian

History

The palace was designed by the architect Rabirius and built atop earlier buildings, including Nero's Domus Transitoria and the Republican House of the Griffins. Under Septimius Severus a large extension was added along the southwestern slope overlooking the Circus Maximus, but the bulk of Domitian's construction remained intact for the rest of the Empire. The palace served as the official residence of Roman emperors until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It was renovated under Theodoric the Great in the 6th century using receipts from a specially levied tax.

The Garden or "stadium"

The eastern side of the Domus Augustana is dominated by a structure often called the "Hippodrome" or "Stadium" of Domitian, measuring 160 by 48 meters. While it resembles a Roman circus, it was far too small for chariot racing. Instead, it functioned as an elaborate sunken garden, much like one found at Pliny the Younger's Tuscan villa. Many statues now housed in the Palatine museum were originally displayed here.

Domitian clearly favored this garden style, as he built a similar one at his Alban Hills villa. It might have served as a private riding school, a feature Pliny noted was common in wealthy villas of the era. The "Hippodromus Palatii" mentioned in the Acts of the Martyrs in connection with Saint Sebastian is almost certainly this very spot. On the eastern side stood a large, three-tiered semicircular exedra, adorned with sculptures and fountains, offering views down into the garden.

A belvedere was built atop its concrete dome. A two-story portico, supported by slender columns veneered in costly colored marble, ran around the perimeter. The lower level provided a sheltered walkway with an ornately stuccoed vaulted ceiling. This stadium was the final part of the palace complex, built after the first two sections were finished in 92 AD, and it replaced older structures dating from the Roman Republic through Nero's reign.

Brick stamps indicate that Hadrian later reinforced the porticoes. During the Severan period, the exedra was reduced to a quarter-circle on its outer side when the neighboring Severan Baths were constructed. A small oval enclosure at the southern end dates to the early 6th century under Theodoric, possibly used as a private amphitheater, though not for gladiatorial contests, which had been banned since Honorius. The complex was uncovered in the 18th century, but looting soon followed, causing irreparable damage to the building.